Yesterday was a smokin’ 36C/96F and beach was packed! We went to Kelso beach once again to practice our open-water swim.
Thankfully it was flooded with lifeguards! There were even lifeguards farther out where we did our practicing.
I admit, I had butterflies in my stomach. I always have butterflies before open-water swims!!! The swims do get easier though, I will admit. All in all, I am much more comfortable in the lake now…I don’t even get frazzled by seaweed on my face now, which is a victory in itself. We were in the middle of our swim and Eric was near me and he started cracking up because apparently I had seaweed ALL OVER MY FACE and HEAD…and I had no idea it was even there! How hardcore am I?! :lol:
As I mentioned previously, if you swim along the buoys (near arrows), there and back = 350 metres which makes it a great place to train for a try-a-tri (375 metres)!
Oh it was COLD getting into that water yesterday because the air was sooo warm it made the water feel like ice. Totally the opposite of our try-a-tri when the air was freezing and the water felt like bath water.
During our last open-water swim, we made the mistake of trying to swim the entire 350 metres right from the start and we felt a bit overwhelmed. Today, we made sure to warm up first by doing small ‘laps’ of about 25 metres or so until we got comfortable. After the warm-up we swam about 50 metres at a time, there and back and overall we felt like this swim went better than the last. We swam for around 30-40 minutes, but I honestly have no idea as we didn’t have a watch on hand!
Our Belwood try-a-tri is quickly approaching and we are both feeling a bit nervous because we haven’t had much time to practice lately. We are really going to have to amp up our training over the next couple weeks if we are going to be ready.
POST-SWIM HUNGER!
Eric fired up the grill as soon as we got home!!! Bless his kind soul.
He made me an Amy’s Texas burger and I topped it with spinach, tomato, tomato paste, sea salt, and red pepper hummus. WOWIE!!!! This was awesome. On Ezekiel toast of course.
He also grilled zucchini…it was SO juicy it squirted me in the eye!
drizzled with EVOO, S + P
and corn on the cob slathered in earth balance…
I almost burned my mouth on this because it was just so good and I couldn’t wait patiently!
Incredible post-swim dinner, it was.
Then we ran some errands and we were pretty much zonked after that so we decided to have a movie night, watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, while eating some Cherry, Banana, and Coconut Butter bread!
I proceeded to eat two huge slices the size of my arm (how is that for portion control!!) and then pass out on the couch at 9pm! I don’t think I have been to bed earlier than 11pm in a dog’s age.
I stumbled into my bed around 11pm and slept until about 6am when I naturally woke up. I felt sooooo much better this morning. I really needed that break yesterday, especially now that I am working on Saturdays I don’t get much time away from work. I didn’t so much as touch the computer yesterday morning after I posted. It was awesome and much needed disconnect.
Today is another scorcher outside, however unlike yesterday today is humid, humid, humid! YUK! I knew I had to get in my run asap this morning, so I headed out around 6:30am. Before my run I snacked on a new raw + GF Glo Bar flavour I am working on. Any guesses as to what flavour this is??
I walked outside this morning expecting to find a crisp and cool morning, but I was met with humid air so thick I could have sliced a piece and had it for lunch. Thank goodness for Camelbaks!
My goal for this run was to challenge myself to stay under 9 minute miles. My Camelbak was full and I was ready to go!
The Run:
- Distance: 3 miles
- Time: 26:15 mins
- Avg Pace: 8:45 min/mile
Mile splits:
- Mile 1: 8:59
- Mile 2: 8:51
- Mile 3: 8:24
What a beautiful negative split this run was!!! After almost a year and a half of running, I finally feel like I am getting a handle on running negative splits. It makes runs a lot more challenging and I highly recommend them if you need to add some interest into your routine runs.
I came home and sweat poured out of my pores as fast as I could replenish my body with water. No joke. This humidity is sickening! I need some nice dry heat….
Or a Green Monster will have to do!
Green monsters are pretty much the perfect post-run snack!
In this bad boy was: 1 cup almond milk, 3 kale leaves, spinach, 1 frozen banana, 4 pitted cherries, 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass wheatgrass powder, 1 tbsp chia seeds.
Today’s question- Do you have to modify the time you workout in the summer? Do you have to switch to evening workouts or get up earlier before it gets hot? What are your summer workout strategies?
This was one of my first early morning workouts in a long time. With myself being so time-crunched in the mornings to get my orders out, it is difficult for me to squeeze in workouts before 6:30am, but I really enjoyed being done my workout by 7am this morning! I might see if I can work it so that I switch to a few early morning workouts each week. It is so nice not to have it hovering over me the whole day!
“Even if I don’t reach any of my goals, I’ve gone higher than I would have if I hadn’t set any”
-Danielle Fotopoulos, soccer player
Since we’re warm year round in FL, I don’t change my routine much for summer. In other words, I do my running inside on the treadmill. If I run the one mile to the gym, I do it no later than 7:30-7:45, I do try to get my biking and rollerblading in earlier — no later than 8:00 a.m. Only if it’s overcast will I go later and later in the day the bugs are bad. I’m pretty much an early morning exerciser anyway; I like to have it over with.
I love that lake! And I love the idea of swimming near the buoys. I am sure that it helped ‘mentally’ to know that there was something to grab on to if you needed to!
I absolutely love the hot weather, so I actually try to push myself harder in the summertime. I do, however, find myself drinking MUCH more water to quench my body. I’ll even pour water down my back on really hot bike rides. Such a good feeling.
~Amanda
Sounded like you had a great workout. :)
I workout indoors more often when it gets too hot.
Oh my gosh, has it ever been hot out these past few days! I ran outside yesterday morning and I know exactly what you mean about sweat pouring out of your pores! I felt like a fountain!!
I usually work out at the gym though, so the heat isn’t normally an issue.
We haven’t even gone above 75 yet, so I’m still trying to figure out how to exercise when it’s cold out and I don’t have a gym anywhere close to me.
Ohh my gosh, that grill meal looks INCREDIBLE!! It’s very similar to the one I had yesterday, too. :)
http://cleanteenkelsey.com/2010/07/05/happy-4th-of-july-peach-pickin/ :)
I much prefer working out in the mornings, I like working out in the cold, I hate the heat, all I think about is how hot I am, the flies annoy me and I really whinge hahahaha. I do 3 mornings a week training and 1 night training. Thankfully at the moment in Australia it is Winter, although it was 1.5C this morning, it was icy cold. My brother is my PT and he loves training in the heat, he tells me it is good for me to sweat it out, I don’t know what he is trying to sweat out of me though :-)
Is it sticky or what!? I actually got out of hot yoga today and felt cool! Bracing for tm morning’s a.m. run. But you’re right, while it doesn’t always feel that way when I’m melted in my bed, getting a run in at the top of the morning has got to be one of the best ways to start your day.
That new Glo bar looks very yummy! Sunflower seeds are great. Pumpkin flavour would be delish!
wow that beach looks packed!
I live In Mississippi and its been in the upper 90’s everyday and high high humidity, so I HAVE to lower my mileage and raise my times to not pass out!
Love the quote..LOVE IT.
Swimming makes my hangry.
You should come to Oz to cool off. :)
Yes, have to modify which time I go training, but the other way around. :P Normally, I study, so then I’m able to do morning workouts. I’m a fan of, like you say, not having it hovering over me the whole day. But in the summertime I have to work (and I have recently moved back to my apartment after livning with my parents for 3 months, so I don’t sleep that well yet, still adjusting to new sleeping environment), so it tend to be more afternoon workout. A big plus is that a friend and I signed up for a 10 km race in late August, so we make sure to go running together at least once a week – it’s awesome having running company now and then! :)
And it’s defintely more rare that I go to the gym in summertime – why be inside when you can workout in the beautiful woods instead? ;)
Love open water swimming, don’t know about all the casual swimmers being around me while I practice though. Every time I see you training for your tri, makes me want to get back to tri training again too, however, gotta stay focused on one thing and that’s 2 marathons in the winter for me this year. I’ll get back to tri’s next year. 2012 is the year for a half ironman! Woohoo!
Hmmmm, that bar looks to have something of a raisin nature in it, but pumpkin might be more like it.
As for a workout schedule, well, you know here in TX it’s hot….humid…hot…humid and just plain ol’ hot in the summertime, so my running mostly goes into the morning hours, around 4:50AM, I head out the door for my short little 30-40 min. run during the week and on Sat. when I run with my running group, especially because these are longer runs, 8 miles this Sat. and being extended every Sat. a mile or 2, we start at 5am or 6:30am, depending on the length. It’s still humid but the pavement is not quite as hot and the air is not as hot etiher. My other workout is Jazzercise and it’s in a gym, so you know the answer to that.
where i live it’s probably 30C in winter, and in summer it’s usually 48C! so i work out at the gym, because of the heat and also because we don’t have many good paved roads/paths to run on!